When addressing the media on Wednesday heading into Kentucky's Sweet Sixteen game against Kansas State, John Calipari channeled his inner Nick Saban. "My challenge is making sure these kids don’t drink that poison. That poison being we have an easy road. There are no easy roads in this tournament,” said Calipari. “If they drink that poison, we’ll be done Thursday. If they don’t drink the poison, it’ll be a dog fight Thursday — let’s see what happens. Sometimes you wonder why they’re (the media) trying to paint that picture with my team — probably because they’re young and they know they don’t know better.”

Nick Saban also referred to the media singing praises about his team as "rat poison" mid-season this past year after a close game with Texas A&M to improve the tide to 6-0. The tactic may have worked for Saban, as his Alabama Crimson Tide did win the CFB Playoff to end the season. perhaps Calipari intends to spark a similar run with his Wildcats.